Adjustable crutch.



sTATnsg'PArENT OFFICE.

wrLLrmnAnvnr LOFTIN, OF qAcKsONvILLE, FLonrnA, AssieNon or ONE-HALF 'To WILLIAM n. TAYLOR, or JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA.

ADJUSTABLE .ortu'rcir lSpeci'catiun of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 18', 11H0.

AppHtimrfiiea rebruary .7d 1910. serial No. 542,553.

To all whom 'itma/y concern:

acitizen'of the United States, 'residing Alat' Jacksonville, in the county -of D n'val 'and State' of Florida, have invented a y 44nevt'iaiid 'usefuiAdjistable Cr'utch, of 4which of .the invention.

' throughout the several figures of i fra lsons of diferent arm lengths.

,ollowin'g is '1a' specification.

v is'tlie 'objectof this invention to provideA -jcrutch'jadaptedto' be .elongated or shortened at'will, to 'accommodate cripples o'f d .iii'erent statures. l

' .Another object of the'invention is to provide -an' ad-justablehandhold for a crutch,

al means-for maintaining said part-s in fixed relation withrespect to each other, andas a means for'. retaining a sprin whereby the component parts of the crutc are held in proper position.

With the above'and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction 'and-arrangement of arts hereinafter described, delineated in 't 'e accompanying 'understood that changes, ,properly falling withinthe scope of'what is claimed,.ma be made, without departing from the spirit Similar numerals of reference are einployed" to.' denote corresponding dparts t e raw- 'in S. i

.gin the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a erspective view of the crutch forming the su ject matter of-this a plication; Fig.

42 `is l a fragmental lon'gituv in'al section of the crutch 5 Fig. 3 is a fragn'ientalv plan thereof; F1 5i' is a fragmental section of the hand-hb d and the portion of the crutchI which is connected therewith; Fi 5 is a 'ental longitudinal section, s owing a mo ied meansI forv maintaining the hand hold 'in place;- Fig. .6 is a transverse Isection 1g-f5 i nd ig. 7 is n. transverse section upon' the of a ortion of the deviceshown in In-theintermediate portions of the 'there are a plurality of oppositely lopenings 5. Theseopenings 5 are adapted tip 18.

The. crutch forming the'subj ect matter. lof

this application consists of the usual spaced, cdnvexed parts 1 united at their upper ends, by. the'slioulder piece 2. The intermediate portions of the parte 1. are spaced .apart by means of the hand-hold 3, tubular-in form, and having blocks 4 'mounted in its ends. arts 1, isposed to receive' the shank 6.02 a screw, the-screw, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4, entering the block 4 which is located Within the tubular hand-hold 3'. The head 7 of' the screw bears against the outer face' of the part 1, and is milledv about. its edge, or otherwise adapted to be seized .for rotation. By removing the screws from one set ofA the openings 5, and

inser'tingvthem in'anotherv set of-s'aidopenin s, 'the hand -hold 3 may be shifted longitu inally' othe crutch .to accommodate per-` sons having different arm lengths. The lower ends of the parts 1 are brought together,

'and united by means cfa rivet 8 or lother retaining device adapted to a like end. The

ends of the parts 1 which are thus brought together, are inserted into a tubular socket 9.

The crutch includes telescopic parts, tubular in form, the outer of which parts is denoted by tlie numeral 10. This part 10 is carried upwardly within the socket 9 to 111- close the lowerl portion of. the parts l, as

shown most clearly in Fig. 2. A pin 11 is passed through the .socket 9, through the Outer tube 10, andl through those portions of the parts 1 Vwhich .are disposed within the members 9 andl 10.

Below the tubular socketjt), there is a- '1ongitudinally .disposed opening 12 in the outer tube 10.

oi'tion 14, from which project alternating Branches 15. An inner tube 16 is mounts for reciprocation within the outer tube 10.

This innerAtube 16 has at its lower end, se-

cured thereto by. threading or'otherwise,.a foot 17,

Mounted in the-inner tube 16, adjacent its upper end, is a block 19, having in its upper face, an opening 20, adapted to receive theV straight, lower end'of a sprin'g'22, heupper end 23 of which is secured about t e,V pinll, The' device-is provided with anadjustable finger, shown in the present'inst-ance, intheforni of a screw 24,' inserted radi `llylnto A s shown' to best advantage in' lFig. 3, this Opening 12 comprises a straight'- pi'ovided with the usual resilient' ilo the inner tube 16, and into th'block I9,V the screw being of suficient length to enter-the vby l'rotating'. lf the tubular parts 10 an opening 20 in'which the end 21 of the spring 22 is mounted.v This' screw 24, protruding from the inner, tube 16, is adapted to 'traverse the portion 14 of the openin'f 12, and

16 upon each other,i the screw may be made to enter one of the lateral branches 15 of the open'- ing l2. The crutch may thus be lengthened or shortened atwill, the spring 22 serving to hold the screw 24 securely in vone of the branches', preventing the` 'telescoped parts from becoming separated, or rattllng when the devlice is in ilse. In4 Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, a modified means for maintaining the hand hold 3 in position is' shown.

If desired', the portions .1 of the crutch may be lprovided with elongated openings- 25. Located upon'the adjacent fac oi the parts 1', adjacentn'these openings 25 are l'lates 26 rovidedwith serrations 27.

here is a s ot 28- inffthisplate 26, vadaptedA foibe alined with the slot 25 inthe part 1.-

'Secured to the'blocks 4 which are -iriounted in the.f1ids of the hand-hold 3 are serrated plates-29. These rplates 29 may be made to engage the plates 26 atpoints between their ends,- 4thus shifting the handholds longitudinally of the crutch, the screw4 30 mpving in. the slots, and obviously constituting a' means for holding the,pl ats 29 in--engagey ment with the latesl 26.

Having thus escribed theinvention, what 35 l. In a crutch, the combination of teles oopc parts;'a s ring connected at one end with one of sai parts; andi an adjustable finger mounted in the'other part to engage 4.0

the first named part :it-predetermined steps, thexfinger oonstitutin a means for connectin'the'other end o thel spring with .said ot erpart.

2.111-` a crutch,'the combination of `telve- 45 scopic parts; a spring connected at one end with the wouter of said parts; the inner of said parts having a terminal opening toreceve the other end of the spring; a screw radially inserted into the -inner part and ar- 50 .ranged to engag theouter part et prede` termined steps, e screw being movable into the opening to bind upon-the. last named'end of the spring.

In testimony that- I claim the foregoing '55l l as myown, I have hereto axed my slgnature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM HARVEY .LOFTIN.

i, Witnesses:

. C. H. ANnnEss, F. Z. KNIGHT. 

